Pool inspections won’t be altered

Carrollton official testifies in suit over drain accident

By: Brooks Egerton – Staff Writer of the Dallas Morning News - Thursday April 24, 1997

Carrollton officials say they won’t begin inspecting swimming pools more closely despite national news reports about the deadly dangers of missing drain covers, two near-drownings locally and a lawsuit. City documents indicate that the drains are checked and must be working properly for pools to operate legally. Yet environmental health director Antonio Romo said in a recent sworn deposition that “we have no methodology of proving that the drain cover is properly secured.” Couldn’t inspectors simply “get into the swimming pool and look to see if it’s covered?” asked attorney Tom Shaw, who represents one of the near-drowning victims in a lawsuit against the city. “We don’t allow them to get into the swimming pools,” Mr. Romo responded, according to a transcript of his testimony. He was not asked why at the time and did not volunteer to explain. Asked to elaborate Wednesday, he wouldn’t comment and referred all questions to legal counsel. City Attorney Karen Brophy likewise declined to comment, saying she didn’t want to go beyond the scope of the deposition.

A check of other cities shows that Carrollton is not alone in taking a hands-off approach to the dangers of uncovered drains, whose powerful suction can trap a person if part of his or her body covers the opening. Some towns, such as Duncanville, don’t conduct annual inspections of pool facilities. Among those that do, “it’s not common practice to get in the pools,” said Grand Prairie environmental health manager Ken Williams. “It’s usually done by professional staff who don’t have time to get into a swimming suit,” he said. Instead, inspectors try to perform a visual check from the edge of the pool. A Dallas official agreed, suggesting that taxpayers wouldn’t want to fun longer, tougher inspections. Like Grand Prairie, Carrollton inspects public and “semi-public” pools – ranging from the giant one at Sandy Lake Amusement Park, where Mr. Shaw’s client was injured last year, to smaller ones at apartment complexes. It charges $100 for an operating permit and can fine operators up to $2,000 a day for not fixing safety violations.

A college student hired by Carrollton to work during his summer break inspected Sandy Lake on May 28 and declared it fit to open. The next day, a 10-year-old Coppell resident named Sean Chittenden got stuck in an uncovered intake pipe along a pool wall. The boy had quit breathing by the time rescuers broke his arm and freed him. He was revived at poolside but remains traumatized by the accident, his mother says. Carrollton has vowed to fight the lawsuit. Ms. Brophy said the city can’t be held responsible for what happens at a private business. “There’s no settlement talk,” she said Wednesday. Mr. Shaw argues that the city is liable because it’s ultimately responsible for whether a pool can operate. If a city is going to inspect pools and certify them as safe, he said, “You’re obligated to do it right.” Sandy Lake and the maintenance company it hired, Pool Kare, are not named in the suit and have not spoken publicly about it. Several dozen accidents similar to Sean’s have been reported to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in the last 20 years. Experts say the numbers are far from complete because reporting isn’t required. Most victims have been children, many of whom have drowned in spas and wading pools – places where they have the easiest access to uncovered drains. Others have suffered permanent injuries ranging from brain damage to disembowelment.

Carrollton started inspecting pools in 1993, two years after an 8-year-old boy visiting an apartment complex was trapped in a spa drain. Rodney Massey suffered brain damage and was awarded more than $500,000 in an out-of-court settlement that didn’t involve the city. Grand Prairie’s Mr. Williams said his inspectors have been trained over the years by officials from Dallas, Plano and other cities. Drain accidents like those in Carrollton are “always mentioned,” he said. Carrollton’s Mr. Romo testified that his inspectors get no formal training. Asked by Mr. Shaw if they should receive some, he said no. “Do you intent to take any other precautions to assure the citizens of the city of Carrollton that safety hazards don’t exist at Sandy Lake swimming pool?” the attorney asked in the deposition. “No,” Mr. Romo said.

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